He Makes Old Bikes New And Wishes Come True

GOLDENROD — Roger Green brought an early Christmas to 16 students at Englewood Elementary School in east Orange County.

In the last two weeks, Green donated 14 rebuilt bicycles and two scooters to the school to distribute to children who never had a bike and whose parents are unable to afford one.

They aren't the only children to receive such a gift from the 67-year-old Goldenrod man.

Green has restored and donated more than 200 bicycles to needy and abused children in Orange and Seminole counties over the past two years after hearing about their needs from neighbors, social workers and guidance counselors at elementary schools and members of local churches.

''We can't say enough about him or his wife, Geneva,'' said Charles Gaussiran, guidance counselor at Englewood, where the couple has donated 73 bicycles since 1990. ''They go out of their way to help these kids and the community. They are good people.''

A New York road department retiree, Green said he came up with the idea to repair bicycles during a vacation. After his trip, he recalled recently, he started finding broken down bicycles at flea markets and garage sales.

Today, some people donate broken bicycles after hearing of his acts of kindness. A local bicycle shop offers him a discount for parts. Green spends about eight hours and $12 to repair each bike.

''As a boy, I always was fixing up my own bike,'' said Green. ''Today, I've got kids and grandchildren of my own, and I've fixed bikes for all of them.

''This is just something I wanted to do,'' he said. ''It's fun, and it keeps me busy. It also is a lot of hard work.''

Green, who declines to watch when the bicycles are distributed to the children, asks little in return for his deeds - only that the children send a note of thanks or a hand-drawn picture that his wife keeps in a scrapbook.

''It's worth it when you read some of those notes from the kids,'' Green said. One note, he recalled, came from a boy who said the bicycle was his first and that he would treat it with as much respect as he would have had his own parents given it to him.

''It was a classic,'' Green said. ''I need no other thanks than that.''